Permission needed to own dogs in social housing

People living in social housing in an area of Surrey will soon need to ask for permission before getting a dog.

A new nine-page list of rules regarding pet ownership is being drawn up by Woking Borough Council to give it "greater enforcement powers".

Residents must notify the council when they get a dog and complete registration forms.

"Dogs will need to be kept on a lead in all communal areas and must not defecate on balconies or any shared spaces," a council spokesperson said.

Guidance on how to keep pets will also be updated to help mitigate noise problems.

In private housing, renting with pets is at the landlord's discretion.

However, landlords must consider each pet request fairly, and if they refuse them, there needs to be a reasonable justification, the council said.

Officers told a council meeting it has been "an on-going challenge dealing with cases of nuisance pets".

Tom Bonsundy-O'Bryan, chair of the council's communities and housing scrutiny committee, said: "Noise nuisance from dogs barking is a problem and a real high percentage of those came from dogs being left outside at night time.

"It's just really bad to let dogs sleep outdoors overnight."

Households will generally be given permission to keep up to two dogs and two cats in a council-owned or managed house, and either one dog or cat in a flat, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

Anyone who wishes to have additional pets will need written permission.

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